Digital communities of interest

Discusses the importance of digital communities (communities of interest) for the library and information science (LIS) profession, considers some of their evolutionary and ecological aspects and identifies ways of building and maintaining communities of interest. Identifies the rapid growth of the Internet and WWW, coupled with the globalization of business, as the key elements in the emergence of digital communities. Considers ways of identifying and establishing potential communities of interest and how they can be cultivated and maintained within a digital infrastructure. These include: understand the community’s needs, the way its members work and their underlying values; and establishing and sharing a common purpose. Content identification, capture and engineering and contextual design are key issues to be addressed. Communities of interest will only prosper if they share an economic model which makes sense. Sponsors and users have to perceive value that rewards their cost of involvement and it is often a major challenge to understand the economic impact of a networked community. Key skill-sets required for networking and digital communities include: market research and analysis; leadership, communication and persuasiveness; systems thinking in digital information product and service development; analytical and synthetic skills; networking technology skills; marketing skills; and customer management expertise.